Meta-Sensibilities
The oltreNFT project by Saba (image: Hugo Fournier).
As the design world’s calendar fills up again with live events, Maison&Objet’s latest edition (8-12 September 2022) promises a social gathering that reflects on the huge changes shaping how we live today.
After a successful edition of Maison&Objet in March, the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre will again be transformed this September with an iteration of the fair themed “Meta-Sensible”, highlighting ideas that fuse aspects of physical and digital living – tactile retreats that embrace both physical comfort and the aesthetics of virtual experience.
The theme was conceived by creative agency NellyRodi and its director of consumer trends and insights, Vincent Grégoire. “It’s a fact,” the agency states, “the times in which we are living have sparked a yearning for interiors that strike a subtle balance between being anchored in the real world, surrounded by artisan pieces, craftsmanship and tactile materials, and, at the other end of the spectrum, an appetite for digital living, free of all physical ties.”
Marshmallow Pillar by &klevering (image: &klevering).
NellyRodi believes that the pop colours, oil slick surfaces and glossy geometric forms employed by brands such as Pink Stories, &Klevering and PolsPotten, all of which are exhibiting at Maison&Objet, embody the ways in which digital aesthetics are impacting upon our physical environment. The agency also points out the growing interest of furniture companies in NFTs, highlighting the Italian brand Saba which is offering its capsule sofa collection as digital tokens.
Pixel Pillar tables with vases by Pols Potten (image: Nine Ijff).
This tendency is also visible in the work of individual designers. Cristina Celestino, who has been named Maison&Objet’s Designer of the Year, is one such practitioner who works to amplify the sensorial qualities of space. The Italian designer is known for her interiors and products inspired by fine jewellery and subtle details from the past: the architecture of Baroque churches through to 1970s colour palettes and rounded silhouettes. Celestino’s Palais Exotique project for Maison&Objet will frame the designer’s ideas in a fantasy world that “allows temporary immersion into another reality.” It is billed as a sociable space that combines the designer’s “love for decoration, passion for colour, and urge to create scenarios in connection to nature.”
Other “meta-sensible” takes can be found in the fair's What’s New? section. Three spaces will be curated by industry trend forecasters: visitors can meander between a “dream-like” selection of objects by François Delclaux; an adventure gift shop by François Bernard; and a meditation on colour by Elizabeth Leriche.
Ossicle collection by Francesco Balzano for Giobagnara (image: Maison&Objet).
Looking to the future, Maison&Objet will offer a launchpad to three emerging brands through its new Futures on Stage platform, providing mentorship and network connections to further their business ambitions. Grégoire, also a jury member for the platform, says he expects today’s brands to “break the rules, make systems rethink themselves, and evolve.” The fair’s Rising Talent Awards, meanwhile, continues to provide a space for emerging designers. This time the spotlight falls on talents with ties to the Netherlands, picked by an all-female jury of six that includes Hella Jongerius, Ineke Hans and Wieki Somers. “To identify and promote talent around the world has been in Maison&Objet's DNA since its inception,” says Franck Millot, partnerships and special events director. “Over time, the program has created an unrivalled map of global design to which we are very much attached.”
The contemporary Dutch design scene is synonymous with experimentation, and the seven-strong selection of the Rising Talents display has been assembled to show diverse investigations across material, method and form. Atelier Fig’s ceramics are formed by dipping foam in liquid clay, while Hanna Kooistra offers conceptual twists on traditional archetypal forms – her ceramic coffeepot is the result of drawing the shape of a traditional silver version with a paint roller, giving it a cartoonish new form. Millot’s pick, however, is Amsterdam-based Frenchman Théophile Blandet, who works with aluminium and plastic offcuts to create fantastical pieces that speculate on future living. “I must admit that I have a design crush on his work,” says Millot. “The pieces are extremely strong with a tight approach between art and design. To me, that is very representative of design coming out of the Netherlands.”
Alongside the Dutch, there is a showcase by French designers Bina Baitel, Samuel Accoceberry, Charlotte Juillard and Pierre Gonalons. This display, So French, will provide a chance for the public to see a range of new self-produced pieces for the first time. The next edition of Maison&Objet is full of debuts and thematic reveals, giving plenty of thought for how we design the future.
Words Riya Patel
Maison&Objet will take place in Paris from 8-12 September 2022.
This article was made for Maison&Objet.